Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hotels, Three Armored Cars, and Millions of Dollars [Paperback]

John Huddy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

On September 20, 1998, Jose Vigoa, a child of Fidel Castro’s revolution, launched what would be the most audacious and ruthless series of high-profile casino and armored car robberies that Las Vegas had ever seen. In a brazen sixteen-month reign of terror, he and his crew would hit the crème de la crème of Vegas hotels: the MGM, the Desert Inn, the New York—New York, the Mandalay Bay, and the Bellagio. The robberies were well planned and executed, and the police–“the stupids,” as Vigoa contemptuously referred to them–were all but helpless to stop them. But Lt. John Alamshaw, the twenty-three-year veteran in charge of robbery detectives, was not giving up so easily. For him, Vigoa’s rampage was a personal affront. And he would do whatever it took, even risk his badge, to bring Vigoa down.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Network producer and onetime Miami Herald columnist Huddy tells a gripping story of greed, violence, theft and public relations. Las Vegas had just launched its new blitz of advertising—advancing itself not as Sin City but as a family-friendly vacation destination—when Jose Vigoa (a Cuban-born commando veteran of the Soviet Army) hit town in the late 1990s. Vigoa and a small crew embarked on a violent 16-month crime wave, targeting some of the Strip's most prominent (and, as Vigoa showed, vulnerable) institutions. A 23-year veteran of the Las Vegas Police Force, Lt. John Alamshaw was charged with finding and capturing the men behind the crime spree—without allowing the robberies to become national news and spoil Vegas's new image. Huddy traces Vigoa's personal history from his childhood in Castro's Cuba to fighting for the Red Army in Afghanistan, his return to Cuba and eventual resettlement in the United States. Then he chronicles the Cuban's increasingly audacious grabs for Vegas riches and his ultimate sentencing to more than 500 years in prison with no possibility of parole. This debut is a must for true-crime enthusiasts. B&w photos. (Feb. 19)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“An amazing and absorbing story . . . [John] Huddy’s vivid, visceral prose and lean narrative make reading about this episode of extreme criminal violence much more than a guilty pleasure.”—Miami Herald

“Harrowing . . . Storming Las Vegas showcases Mr. Huddy’s fine reporting and deft storytelling skill.”—Wall Street Journal

“A gripping story of greed, violence, theft and public relations . . . a must for true-crime enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Revealing in what it shows about the criminal mind . . . [Huddy has] the perfect blend of skills and experience to tell the story of Vigoa.”—Seattle Times

“A total page-turner . . . riveting from beginning to end.” —Laura Ingraham, The O’Reilly Factor

“A thought-provoking, demented Horatio Alger story.”—Entertainment Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345514416
• ISBN-13: 978-0345514417
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION! BIG-TIME CRIME SPREE IN MODERN LAS VEGAS!", February 25, 2008

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hotels, Three Armored Cars, and Millions of Dollars (Hardcover)

"IN MY WORLD, YOU ARE EITHER THE HUNTER OR THE PREY, AND I AM THE HUNTER. VEGAS WAS MY PREY. I TELL MY CREW: VEGAS MAKES IT, VIGOA TAKES IT!"
** JOSE VIGOA **

The first thing for potential readers to comprehend is that this entire story is absolutely true! This is not some phony, unbelievable, implausible, mockery of a Vegas caper like the "OCEANS ELEVEN" (THE REMAKE) "OCEANS TWELVE" AND "OCEANS THIRTEEN" Hollywood movies. For a period of TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS AND NINE DAYS, STARTING ON MAY 28, 1998 a "storming" of Las Vegas occurred when SIX (and nearly seven) world-class hotels were "hit"! The Desert Inn was involved in an attempted robbery which failed as it escalated into a bloody firefight. The other casinos, armored car companies, and businesses suffered losses exceeding three-million-dollars. This entire rampage was accomplished by a crew of merely three and possibly four men led by the violent and cunning Cuban born, former Russian/Cuban special force soldier Jose Vigoa.

This improbable string of successful robberies in the absolute heart of the world renowned Las Vegas, Sin City, is even harder to grasp when you take into account that the hotels employ thousands of security personnel in addition to the Metropolitan Sheriffs and police. The hotels also utilize thousands upon thousands of cameras. Jose planned and approached each heist like a military operation. Some of the "interesting" things he found out is that the new modern non-mafia controlled hotels had become in his own words: "A SOFT TARGET." Armored car guards cannot brandish their weapons on casino property no matter how much money they're transporting, according to hotel policy. "Security employees, long the backbone of Vegas protection, were disarmed and ordered not to engage criminals with deadly force on hotel property, much less provide backroom retaliation." The newer hotels had open cashier cages without bars or even bulletproof glass. The city was in the midst of runaway growth, and as a result, the police department was seriously undermanned. All the while Jose researched every variable imaginable during his pre-robbery scrutiny. He would follow armored cars on their routes for months at a time. He rightly believed that faulty "getaway" plans is what hindered many would-be casino robbers. To prevent this problem, during two nighttime raids the "audacious gang" stole seventeen vehicles from a Thrifty Car Rental lot. The stolen cars were then dispersed in crucial spots of each escape route, so they could quickly change cars so the "APB's" would have law enforcement searching for the wrong cars. This scheme worked so well that after a couple of heists, the cops and FBI lost the trail so quick that Jose would go back to the crime scene and laugh at the investigation that was just started at the most recently robbed hotel.

How did Jose's well planned heists turn out? Well, let's use the MGM Grand Hotel as an example. "The MGM, at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, is not only the grandest complex in Las Vegas with its 170,000 square foot casino, 6.6 acre pool complex, four thirty-story towers, nine signature restaurants, and 5,044 guest rooms. It is also the biggest hotel in the world. Jose and his boys stole more than $1.5 million in currency and checks from the main cashier's cage in TWENTY-EIGHT-SECONDS!! On April 22, 2000 shortly before dawn, Jose sat by the slot machines in the NEW YORK-NEW YORK HOTEL AND CASINO and waited for the hotels two armed guards to collect money from the gaming tables. He then jumped out of his seat in front of a slot machine and pulled his .357 magnum chrome revolver out, and said, "Don't move to one, and told the other one to "Get out of here!". "I guess the guards knew who I was. They froze." One of his crew appeared from the other side with his gun drawn, picked up the smaller cart, and placed it on top of the main dolly. Then they simply pushed the cart through the casino and out the door.

Think this sounds like fiction? Well, the introduction states that the prosecuting attorneys cooperated with the author, and Jose from prison cooperated fully and even signed a release, wrote detailed reports, with color sketches and blue prints. Vigoa also permitted the author to interview his former wife and three daughters, and authorized the author, without restrictions, to view his legal records. This is a meticulously researched book. What also enhances this whirlwind trip through the greatest crime spree in modern times are hospital pictures of armored car drivers, pictures of shot up armored cars, pictures of arrests, hand drawn robbery plans by the criminal himself. *NOTE* It's almost humorous to see in the lower corner of some of the exhibits: "COURTESY JOSE VIGOA." You will not be able to put this book down and you will be shaking your head from side to side as the share enormity of these crimes hit you. I don't think anyone would believe it as a movie.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable real-life crime story handled wonderfully by its author., April 8, 2008

By 

M. Strong (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hotels, Three Armored Cars, and Millions of Dollars (Hardcover)

To be fair, John Huddy had somewhat of a slam-dunk on his hands with this under-told story. Even so, his writing and thoughtfulness took it to a level it wouldn't have reached in less capable hands.

Huddy, a former police and crime beat reporter found an amazing story that had been downplayed by casinos and Las Vegas papers because of the potential for negative impact on their business. For a little longer than 24 months at the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s, several Las Vegas armored cars and big-time casinos were robbed in a manner that was clearly planned by someone with a knowledge of weapons and tactics well beyond that of the average criminal. Furthermore, they were bold - done right on the strip in broad daylight.

Huddy tells the story of these heists and the law enforcement effort to solve them in a gripping, nearly fiction-like narrative style that keeps you almost frantic to find out what happens next. To achieve this effect, Huddy has spent an obviously huge amount of time researching the story first-hand, talking at length with those who were involved.

The finished product is the tale of a man born in Cuba and trained by the Soviet military who ends up in the United States under questionable circumstances and turns to his military training to earn an illicit living in Sin City. In this case, truth truly is stranger than fiction.

Huddy deserves credit for painting an even-handed portrait of the men who committed and solved the crimes, resisting the urge to just give in to stereotyping. Beyond that, Huddy finishes with a thoughtful analysis of who our Cuban anti-hero might truly be, and who he might not be. All in all, Huddy has found a great story and done it full justice with his treatment.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes non-fiction crime stories. An action-packed descendant of "In Cold Blood", by Truman Capote.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Tale, with Minor Flaws!, February 24, 2008

By 

Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hotels, Three Armored Cars, and Millions of Dollars (Hardcover)

"Storming Las Vegas" tells the story of a Russian-trained Cuban commando (Vigoa) coming to America as part of the Mariel boatlift. Eventually Vigoa moves to Las Vegas, becomes part of the drug scene, and is imprisoned in 1988 for slightly over seven years.

Vigoa takes up construction work, does well, but loses his job after the parole officer informs Vigoa's employer of his background. Vigoa then begins a two-year run robbing armored cars and casinos - netting $3 million from six major hotels, and killing two armored truck guards in the process.

Author Grimes tells the story of each of the robberies, including three armored-car heists - each of which went sour due at least partly to errors committed by Vigoa's gang. (Two of the heists were also materially hampered by the guards' heroic and skillful actions. Coincidentally, two of the guards were involved in two of the foiled attempts.)

Vigoa has little respect for the LVPD and FBI, and it seems that at least one major error delayed ending Vigoa's career early. (Grimes' accounting on this point is somewhat muddled; in addition, his sequencing of Vigoa's robbery career is also confusing.)

Eventually Vigoa et al are caught - thanks to the Bellagio's extensive video system and alert operators.